Sterlite Technologies is planning to set up an annual seed fund of $100,000 (over Rs 6 million) for promoting innovations in the field of broadband deployment in India. While the Intellectual Property Right will be completely owned by developer of the technology, Sterlite will support the entity in commercialising the product.
The company is also setting up its centre of excellence (CoE) facility dedicated to research and development of fibre-optic broadband technologies. The facility will span 35,000 square feet adjoining Sterlite?s 20 million km optical fibre factory in Aurangabad. The company is also ramping up its Silvassa plant capacity from 8 km million to 15 km million, with investments of Rs 1.5 billion.
Meanwhile, Sterlite has also signed agreements on collaborative research in ultra-high speed broadband with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. It also plans to set up a five-member panel comprising broadband experts, which will jointly advice on grants and fellowship programmes.
